Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Ah, okay., Marx thinks to his equipped counterpart, after which he starts flying out of the Mysterious Dimension.

Once back in the main hub of the Dark Realm, Marx notices Dharkon in the far distance, so he slowly lands and walks all the way back, eventually making it to the bridge leading to the middle island, seeing Dharkon.

I'm, uh, guessing that's him?

"Right behind ya, Rin!"

Pietro dashes after Rin out of the Dark Realm. Upon noticing Dharkon's eye watching them on their way out, he just smirks and sticks up both middle fingers at the Lord of Darkness.

"Yup. Don't do what Pietro just did. Seriously."

Despite the spirit's warning, Dharkon doesn't appear to actually care about being flipped off. He just continues watching Pietro until the speedster is gone, then turns his attention to Marx.

"That guy has a death wish.", Marx mumbles to himself. Even the little jester was smart enough not to taunt Dharkon right now.

He starts carefully walking past the eye, glancing at it all the way, expecting it to attack the moment he looks away.

It doesn't.

Oh, and Marx had better watch his step on those stairs.

He nearly trips on said stairs, which Dharkon might find amusing at least. Regardless of whether he does, Marx just spreads his wings and flies out of the Dark Realm.

Once back in the Arena, he sighs, relieved, and then flies off to a safe haven to rest.

Windhelm

Rin touches down in the nearest city she can find - see above. From there, she dismisses her hoverboard once again and gets to walking around Windhelm on foot.

This whole world is nothing like home...

She ends up slipping into Candlehearth Hall.

Candlehearth Hall, Windhelm

Notice, We at the arena do not condone or support underage drinking. It's not healthy for the developing mind, and it's not legal. Wait until you're 18 or 21, or whatever the legal age is where you are. With that out of the way...

Madoka, who's currently 14, would be sitting at a table in the eatery area with a plate of artic fish, some sliced roasted potatoes, and a mug of mead. She'd Look over at rin, and wave. She's currently in her day to day outfit instead of her magical girl outfit, which is still as confusing as ever to the bartender, and anyone who actually briefly exists in windhelm. She'd speak up.

"Hey, you're not like the other's I've seen around here... that's not a bad thing... sorry... what brought you here?"

Rin curtly replies, "A fight. Big cackly thing with rainbow-y prism wings. Guy was a real creep."

"I'm Rin, by the way. You?"

Candlehearth hall

Madoka would smile cheerfully, the gem near her neck sparkling a bit with light from the window she's near. "My Name's Madoka Kaname... Weird prismatic thing with wings? Was that a witch you were fighting against, or was it something else in this weird mess of worlds...?"

Rin grabs the first bottle she sees off the nearest shelf. "It was a guy, so probably not a witch. That's how that works, right?"

Madoka would take a gulp of her drink, not intoxicated in the slightest, despite her small size, and young age. "Well, I've yet to hear of kyubey making contracts with "Magical Boys", so I guess you're ri... a... are you in the know about witches too? Do you know about Kyubey, or are you just assuming."

"Oh, I'm totally assuming," Rin says cheekily as she rubs her ear with one finger. "I have no idea what a Kyubey is, but witches were a thing in fiction books in my own world. That's how I know about 'em."

Madoka would sigh a bit, changing to her magical girl outfit. "Kyubey, or Kyubeys are an alien species which grants wishes, contracts, an powers in exchange for making their contractee eventually turn into a "Witch". I think this issue is solved here, as i've not seen my soul gem go dark over time... But Kyubey's not to be trusted. And that's coming from me. You should see how homura feels about them." She'd then realize all the info she dropped. "Sorry, sorry. You dont even know about witches and I just went on to explain everything about magical girls... Sorry... I sound like some sort of plot exposition character or something saying all that. Am I bothering you at all...?"

"Huh. Cool clothes," Rin remarks. "I mean, my friend Marija sometimes dresses up as a magical girl, but I don't think she's legit. We Muses have our own thing goin' on, after all. And, yeah, with the world I live in, I already know full well that you can't trust anyone who looks remotely sympathetic. They all lose it sooner or later..." Rin sighs.

Madoka would smile, her optimism overflowing. "Come on, It can't be that bad. There's always manipulative bastards like kyubey, but there's always genuinely good people out there. You just have to look hard enough. Don't be so down."

Windhelm, near Candlehearth Hall

Cacao continues his recon mission, coming across Candlehearth Hall. A Saibabrute and a couple of Tennenmen approach the tavern's windows and look inside.

Rin quivers a little.

"Um... it doesn't really matter. In fact, the more genuinely nice you are in my world, the more likely it is you'll turn rotten. That's just... how things are. Builders become destroyers, firemen become arsonists..."

"Maybe there's a witch's labrynth in your world? maybe it's a witch's kiss in action? That tends to explain a lot of things in my world... But, that is a bit scary..." Madoka would look to the newcomers looking in, and wave. "Hello!"

Edited by ReynTheLord on Jul 5th 2019 at 7:23:52 AM

Candlehearth Hall

The Tennenmen wave back, and the Saibabrute walks over to Cacao and points to the bar.

Cacao walks over and enters the hall, his Saibabrutes and Tennemen following after; the ones who waved before waved again as they walked in.

Saibabrute 1: "Zai. Sai."

"Oh, hi!" Rin waves to the newcomers.

She quickly leans in to Madoka and whispers, "L-look, I really can't tell you more. I don't know how the rules work, and I don't know if it followed me here. Just know that knowing about it is dangerous, okay?"

Edited by KiriK on Jul 5th 2019 at 8:28:38 AM

Meanwhile, in the Sheperds base, it's a party night.

A quiet party, though, since a lot of the fighters here could do some damage if they were to get careless. People mostly drink or chat around a fire in the main room.

Haha ! You're so frowny ! You remind me of Lady Camilla's two retainers ! But, shhhhh, don't tell them !

Can you please... step away ? offers an annoyed Oboro to Peri.

...

...

...

...

...

Nohrians and Hoshidians (bar three) face each other, slowly eating away at the food. Doppio, sitting between them, is simply eating some of the SCP pizza, unconcerned. Garon, strangely enough, pay no heed to the feud, and eat his food without a care in the world

Gregor, Cynthia, Noire, Kellam (who's quite happy about the invitation), Morgan and Frederick are throwing darts at a wall, with Noire and Morgan prevailing so far. Cynthia's darts are hitting anything but the board. Frederick, meanwhile, seems devoted to the game, nervously looking away from the bear meat.

Haha ! Our jobs require accuracy !

Gregor is seeing two boards at once. Not easy to aim.

But why would you drink before a throwing contest ?

Two boards easier to hit, of course.

Emmeryn is sitting with Gangrel, away from the feast.

Tsk, stop trying to approach me. I'm already feeling bad enough about my life here. I don't need your puppy eyes drilling into my psyche !

Puppy eyes...

It's when you act cute to get people to do things at no cost.

Oh... could you demonstrate it for me ?

Take a good look at my face.

Samsara is sitting at another table, glass in hand. She, Donnel (who's got her arm wrapped around his shoulders and vice versa), Joe, Miriel and Maribelle are listening to Arthur, though Maribelle is contemplating a table switch. Stark is also around, eating from his infinite pizza (don't ask)

... For the third time in the year, I was covered in honey and half-naked. And for the second time in the year, I was facing the might of a bear. This time, however, I had no axe and the bear brought some family !

The laws that determine events seems to bend specifically around you. Is is true ? Are some humans able to bend the phenomenon of "luck" unwittingly ?

Yeah. It's a power in my world. Never ever saw someone with a bad luck power, though.

Chances of survival are quite minimum for them, yes.

It's nice of you to be around, Miriel ! I was afraid you'd stay here, on your side.

Make no mistake. If the party degenerates, I shall immediately seek shelter.

Oui mais... there won't be violence, non ?

Goin' by the look of it, one royal's going to slam the other through a wooden table by the next minute. I know that look, it's the killer look you give before doing just that. Never saw so many folks use it too. Those guys are vicious.

We should probably try to get Lucina in here if they do fight... hey, where is she ?

—

Lucina is watching the party from afar, seemingly not joining it yet, to the surprise of Laurent, who seems to be in the business of bringing more food.

Lucina ? Why aren't you coming to the feast ?

I worry for the future, Laurent..

...

Laurent turn around and sighs.

Once Dharkon and Galeem fall...

We shall go on to fight the Einherjar once more. I worry that they are... still active, waiting for us to be weakened or observing and adapting to our progress.

Indeed. We must focus on the battles to come after this one, important as it is. However... this is clearly not doing you any good, Lucina.

What do you mean ?

It would... perhaps help you if you were to interact with the group in a period of joy. Those events, frivolous as they may seem, can strengthen the bonds between us... except those of the warring kingdoms, of course.

She does crack a half-smile to it.

I am well aware of my need to interact with others... however, feasts like these are quite rare for me. I fear that I may end up withdrawn.

It's okay. I'm quite sure that your sister will guide you though these. To be honest, this is what my own sister did for me, so this advice is from one with experience in the matter.

Hm...you're right, Cynthia has a way with people that I lack.

Don't we all ? Not that we can be blamed for that.

Lucina nods and they both lean in to kiss, though very briefly. Once they're done, they both walk to the gathering.

Minutes later, a drunken Takumi throws himself through the table after a dare from Camilla.

Madoka would now be very concerned. "Wha... exuse me, are you alright? what do you mean?" She'd look to the newcomers, equally confused. "Excuse me?"

"They're probably aliens," Rin says with a shrug. "Maybe the leader is more fluent."

"Seriously, can we please drop this line of thought now?! I don't want them hearing about it too!"

Madoka would drop the topic, trying not to push things further. She'd realize that something's wrong though. "Anything else to talk about? What was it like first ariving in this... arena? Homura's been here before, not sure about other people though..."